Life, Unexpected
by Flames101
Summary: JJ recalls the moment her real life began and the moment it took an unexpected, but happy turn. JJ/Hotch. One-shot.


**A/N:** Hey all. This story was written specifically to get word out about the Profiler's Choice 2011 Awards for the Criminal Minds Fanfiction . net community. If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a little info:

**From ilovetvalot and tonnie2001969, the two lovely moderators at the forum Chit Chat on Authors Corner: The Second Annual Profiler's Choice Awards are up & running at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. The nomination ballot IS available! Please, please, please READ the rules and category descriptions before casting your noms. Time is running out. The LAST day to submit your ballot is October 15, 2011, 11:59pm EDT. Remember, without you guys there'd be no awards! HAVE A BALL! We're SUPER EXCITED!**

So, yeah, basically you go to the forum, pick up the ballot, fill it out and send it through a PM to the **Profiler's Choice CM Awards.** And you're all done!

For the nomination ballot, along with a full set of rules and instructions, please visit Chit Chat on Author's Corner. And if you've got any questions please PM them to Profiler's Choice CM Awards.

All right, on with the show… This piece is a little one-shot, basically a fluff piece. Hope you enjoy!

**Life, Unexpected:**

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><p>"Are you sure?" JJ asked hesitantly.<p>

Hotch closed the distance between them, giving her lips a quick, much needed, kiss. "Yes, I'm sure, you go take that nap. I've got everything under control here."

She would have jumped for joy, if she wasn't sore all over. Instead, she rewarded her lovely partner with a kiss of his own. Pulling back she added, "Honey, you are the best!"

He chuckled lightly. "I know…"

JJ hurried to their shared bedroom, shutting the door behind her, and then proceeding to shut all the curtains in their master bedroom. She threw a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. She had just enough time for an hour's nap before she had to get up and help with dinner.

Quickly, she discarded her shoes and settled herself onto their fluffy mattress. The sigh that escaped her lips was caused by the pure bliss she suddenly felt. It'd been awhile since she'd had the chance to get in some real shut-eye. Not since she'd had Susannah Hotchner about three week's ago. Their little girl was turning out to be quite the screamer and had taken to showing off her skills at the top of her lungs every night. By day, though, she more than made up for it with her perfect angel-ness.

_Ah… life was good… _she thought, merrily, as her eyes began to drift closed. It was a wonder that she'd gotten it all… the man of her dreams, three beautiful children and a beautiful home to share their lives together in. It wasn't that it was a hard road getting to this exact point, just an unbelievable one, considering she had been about to marry another man. But she quickly put that out of her mind, only choosing to dwell on the good things.

She fell asleep to her memories of the past year, only to relive them in vivid detail in her dreams…

_**$880088$**_

"_Don't do this, JJ," Hotch pleaded with her._

_She had just been about to leave his office after coming in for no real reason other than to give him a chance to fight for her. She'd just about given up hope on him. She was supposed to be marrying Will this very weekend—in a small, justice of the peace officiated wedding—but, really, she wanted nothing more than to call the whole thing off._

_She didn't love Will. She didn't think he loved her either. But it was convenient for them to stay together. And it was a plus for their son._

_The man she _did_ love was sitting right in front of her. But, so far, his stubbornness had kept them apart._

_However, his statement just a second ago had her heart—long since frozen over, she'd believed—suddenly melting. She dropped her hand off the door knob. Taking a deep breath, letting herself hope again, she turned to face him. He'd gotten out of his chair and come around his desk to stand right behind her._

_She searched his eyes. "Don't do what?"_

_What she found there was the torture he'd been feeling these past few months not by her side. Totally self-inflicted, because at any point all he'd had to do was say the word and she would have been totally and completely his._

"_You know what, JJ," he replied, voice hoarse from emotion. "Don't… don't marry Will."_

Oh God,_ she thought. _Was she really about to get all she'd ever wanted?

"_Why?" she asked, needing to be sure._

_He let out a strangled sounding sigh. Reaching for her, he ran his hands up and down either arm, sending tingles down her spine._

"_Because it will kill me," he claimed, raggedly._

_She took a deep breath. This was it, she was almost certain, but she needed more._

"_Hotch, if you think I'm going to throw away a chance with Henry's father just because you don't like it, you've got—"_

_He pulled her abruptly against his chest. "Damn it, JJ, I love you!"_

_Her eyes widened as she searched his chocolate brown gaze for any doubt. There wasn't any. Aaron Hotchner, without a doubt, loved her._

"_O… Ok," she breathed out._

"_Ok?" he replied, not understanding._

_She shook her head slowly. "I… I won't marry Will…"_

_He kissed her then. Pulling her body even closer, if possible; he moulded her to his form and she had no idea where he ended and she began. But that was ok, because they were together now, and he was kissing her like the world was ending. But, really, in her opinion, life had finally begun._

_**$880088$**_

"_JJ?" she heard her name being called from somewhere close by._

Oh, please, don't find me, don't find me,_ she chanted in her mind, as she tried her hardest to sniffle as quietly as possible._

_JJ nearly jumped from fright when she heard the sound of a door opening, followed by the clicking sound of heel on tile. The clicking finally stopped and unfortunately for JJ, who'd been trying her mightiest to hide, they'd stopped directly in front of her stall._

"_JJ, hun," came her best friend's concerned voice, "The boss-man sent me to find you. What are you doing in there?"_

_JJ opened her mouth to say, "What do you think?" hoping it'd be enough to get her to go away. Instead, a horrible strangled sound escaped her lips. And she couldn't stop the sobs that followed._

"_Oh honey," Penelope said soothingly, "please open up."_

_JJ stood up, sliding the lock back—knowing Garcia would never leave her alone, so she might as well get it over with—and then slumped back down onto her seat._

_Garcia quickly opened the door and pulled JJ to her feet, instead, dragging her out into the open area of the BAU's women's washroom. She led her to the couch off to the side and then stepped away momentarily. She returned with a bunch of tissues._

"_What's wrong?" Garcia asked, forthright._

"_N… nothing," JJ tried to lamely deflect._

_Garcia gave her a look that said, "Don't mess with the PG!"_

_JJ let out a sigh/sob. "I… I'm pregnant."_

_Her friend's face instantly lit up. "Oh peaches, that's… wonderful?"_

_JJ winced as her friend's tone changed during her statement._

"_Is this not a good thing? I thought it would be a good thing? A mini Jareau-Hotchner running around here would be adorable. That's not good?" Garcia asked, clearly confused._

_JJ let out a sigh. Of course, she'd thought it would be a good thing, that is until she'd overheard her partner tell an old friend that he'd just had two kids and there were no plans for more._

_JJ's face must have shown her deep sadness because Garcia was now demanding to know what had happened. So, JJ reluctantly told her. And her reaction caught JJ totally by surprise._

"_Oh for the love of—" she started, abruptly exiting the bathroom, leaving JJ sitting there, more than a little baffled._

_She was about ready to get up, make her face presentable, and return to work when scuffling sounds at the door caught her attention._

"_Garcia!" she heard Hotch's voice when the door pushed open a smidgen. "No, I can't go in there!"_

_Garcia's response was muffled when the door swung shut._

What was she doing?_ JJ thought frantically. She didn't want Hotch to see her this way. She stood up and wiped at her eyes. Not sure how to escape._

"_Garcia, can you please tell me why you're shoving me into the women's washroom?" Hotch bellowed, clearly uncomfortable. "Garcia… Garcia… we're not in middle school… any… more…"_

_With his last words the spunky technical analyst managed to successfully muscle Hotch inside the bathroom. JJ would have laughed out loud at Hotch's current predicament, but she wasn't really happy with him._

"_Garcia?" Hotch said, back to JJ. He was holding his hands out to either side of him saying, basically to the world, 'why him?'_

_Her best friend poked her head inside and pointed bluntly at JJ, giving him a look that meant business._

Oh crap!_ JJ thought frenetically, looking around, futilely, for a place to hide._

_But hiding was not happening because in the next instant Hotch was turning around and his befuddled look was suddenly turning into a worried one._

"_JJ?" he said quickly, coming to her side._

_She put out a hand to keep him a step or two back. She really didn't want to be touched right now._

_He shot her a puzzled look. "What's happened? Is… is it the boys?" he asked fearfully._

_She shook her head._

"_Is something the matter with you? Are you sick? Hurt?" he tried again._

_JJ knew it was childish, but she turned around when he'd asked if she was hurt._

"_JJ, you're scaring me?" Hotch continued._

_The door swung open again, apparently Garcia hadn't departed yet. "For the love of God, tell him, JJ, before _I_ tell him."_

_JJ shot her friend a mean look, before Garcia left them alone again._

"_What's she talking about?" Hotch questioned, coming around to face her. He took her hand in his and she allowed him to lead her to the couch._

_JJ sat down, not meeting his eyes when she said, "Do you really not think about having another baby?"_

_Hotch's gasp in surprise caught her off guard. She looked at him only to see him watching her carefully._

"_I… think about it," he said unsurely. "It's just… do you think about it?" _

_She let out a watery sounding snort of incredulity. "Yeah, I think about it…"_

"_JJ," he said perceptively. "What's going on?"_

_She stared down at her lap, hands ringing each other before letting out a determined sigh._

"_I'm pregnant, Aaron," she replied, bluntly, hoping it would be like ripping a band-aid off and it wouldn't hurt as bad when he told her he didn't want it._

_Ten seconds passed by without a word from him, than thirty, and than finally a whole sixty seconds. JJ couldn't take it anymore and looked up to see what he was thinking._

_What she found there was a mixture of emotions: wonder, joy, fear, happiness, elation, uncertainty… Could she have got him wrong?_

"_Aaron?"_

"_JJ!" he exclaimed, suddenly snatching her up in his arms to hug her tightly. "This is wonderful!"_

"_What?" she said, not following._

"_We're having a baby!" Hotch exclaimed. "This is the best news possible."_

"_Really?"_

_He pulled back to look her in the eyes. "Yes, really!"_

_And then just like that everything was instantly better. He wanted her and the baby and their whole unexpected life together._

**$880088$**

When JJ awoke awhile later she didn't know exactly what had pulled her from her happy dreams. She looked around the room, seeing no Hotch in sight. It wasn't until she heard some happy gurgling coming from the baby monitor that she realized that it was baby Susannah who'd brought her back to reality.

JJ rubbed at her eyes and sat up in bed. She glanced at the clock on the night stand, surprised to see that she'd been asleep for nearly three hours.

_Definitely time to get up…_

She made her way to the door, opening it. Immediately, she heard sounds of company coming from the living room below. She momentarily thought at who was over, but put it out of her mind for now, her baby needed her.

She took the few steps to the nursery and opened the door. Instantly, she went over to the crib.

Leaning over the railing, she marvelled at the tiny wonder lying inside. Susannah Hotchner was as pretty as a picture. The same blue eyes as her mother and a full head of dark hair like her father's. The little girl was wide awake, waving her arms and legs in the air.

"Hey there, cutie," JJ cooed at her. "You ready to get up?"

JJ cradled her in her arms as she walked over to the rocking chair in the corner.

It wasn't long until she was joined by Hotch.

"Hey," he said, slipping inside the room whispering just in case. "You're awake?"

"Yeah," JJ replied happily. "I heard this little one calling for me… Who's here?"

Hotch came over to kneel by her side, staring down at his lovely daughter. JJ couldn't get enough of how Hotch completely adored their new baby. He reached a finger out to put in Susannah's palm and she instantly took hold.

"Hmm…" he said absently, smiling down at his little girl. "Oh, Derek and Emily popped by for a visit. They're down stairs with the boys."

"Why didn't you wake me?" she questioned, mildly.

"You looked like you were having good dreams," Hotch replied meeting her eyes. "I didn't want to interrupt."

JJ chuckled. "Yeah, they were very good."

"Really?" Hotch replied, suggestively.

She swatted at his shoulder, playfully. "They weren't those kinds of dreams…"

He chuckled. "Well, whatever you were dreaming, you needed the rest."

She leaned forward to give him a long kiss. "You're sweet."

"Thanks," he accepted. "You think you and Susannah are up for a visit? Emily's been dying to see her?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage."

She put little Susannah to her shoulder and followed Hotch out of the room. Once again marvelling at how she'd managed to get the attention of a man as wonderful as Aaron Hotchner.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!<p>

And don't forget to check out the Profilers Choice 2011 Awards!


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